Cross Country Classic

North Central College (IL) Men and Hope College Women win NCAA DIII Pre-Nats

Louisville, Ky. – October 1, 2016 – University of Louisville senior Edwin Kibichiy won a hotly contested men’s feature race at the 15th Annual Louisville Sports Commission Cross Country Classic held at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, holding off Jskob Chobe of Middle Tennessee and UofL teammate Calvin Chemoiyo. A total of six college races were contested under ideal weather and course conditions, including the Pre-Nationals for the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s National Championships that will be hosted by Spalding University and the Louisville Sports Commission at Sawyer State Park on Nov. 19.

In the men’s feature, Kibichiy ran the 8K in 23:34.8, followed by Choge at 23:37.2 and Chemoiyo at 23:41.9. NCAA Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State won the team title followed by Middle Tennessee in second and Virginia Tech in third. UofL finished sixth.

In the women’s feature race, Michigan’s Erin Finn won in impressive fashion setting a 5K course record at 16:26.7 while leading her Wolverines to the team title. Martina Rodriguez of Memphis finished second followed by Charlotte Imer from Eastern Kentucky University in third. University of Guelph, out of Ontario, Canada, finished second in the team title followed by Butler University in third.

North Central College (IL) won the men’s pre-nationals team title, led by individual winner Zach Plank, who took control of the race at the four-mile mark and won in impressive fashion. North Central ran away with the team title with five runners in the top 10, including second place finisher Ethan Adlfinger. Mason McKinney of Wabash finished third. Pomona-Pitzer (CA) finished second in the team standings and Carnegie Mellon finished third.

Amy Regan from Stevens Institute easily won the 6K women’s pre-nationals with a time of 20:55.8 going wire-to-wire ahead of Erin Herrmann of Hope College, who finished second, and Serena Gale-Butto of Centre who was third. Hope edged out Bates College 103 to 107 for the team title with Emory finishing third.

In the other two races, Grand Valley State finished first in the women’s and men’s team standings. Shawnee State was second in the women’s standings and Edinboro was second on the men’s team standings. Taylor College finished third in both the men’s and women’s races. Teammates Daniel Garcia and Jonathon Kimutai from Cardinal Stritch ran one-two in the men’s race followed by Endalow Takele of Western Kentucky University.